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Blackbird Down!!

Longer story:
Went backpacking with the scouts overnight. Very pretty backpacking trip up to an alpine lake here in Colorado:

Was scouting around for trees for my Warbonnet Ridgerunner. Finally found the perfect set and was ready to set it up, kick up my feet and get away from the mosquitos. Took out my hammock bag and realized that in my overconfident/overpaced packing, I'd inadvertently grabbed my Warbonnet Blackbird XLC. The bags look almost identical - I'll now be considering radical ways to make them clearly different.

Not a problem, I thought to myself. I'm flexible. I brought my spreader bars for nothing, but I can make this work.

Looking in the bag, I couldn't find my suspension. Uh oh.

Then it hit me. I'd taken my suspension for the blackbird out and stored it separately. I use a whoopie hook suspension with separate straps, etc. for my BB and integrated straps for my RR.

So, I now have a hammock with absolutely no suspension and I don't carry extra straps or 7/64 amsteel. So, I had to borrow a ground sheet from another adult and laid my beautiful Blackbird XLC on the ground, tied one end up onto the tree above me (the trees were truly mocking me at this point - this was a painful process) and used it like a bivy to keep the bugs at bay.

Finally, the icing on the cake. Going to ground is rough, but I can tolerate it and sometimes use a tarp and bivy for variety or under specialized circumstances. But, this time I didn't have a pad. Just an underquilt. Did I mention I'm a bit of a sleeping snob? I need to be comfy.

At this point, I was quite frustrated with myself, but trying to stay upbeat and look at it with a bit of fun/ingenuity. So, I took the 1'x2' foam pad off the back of my Gossamer Gear Mariposa, put that under my hips and laid straight on the ground.

Good times .

I will say it was an interesting lesson in being prepared. I'd always wondered what I would do if I couldn't find trees and had to go to ground above treeline. Now I know. It wasn't fun, but it was at least mostly bearable due to that little piece of pad under my hips. That, and three Nyquil.

Did you say Scouts? The be prepared scouts? Just kidding, I'm anal retentive so I gear list every time. I have learned my memory is not what it used to be and neither is my back. Can't chance it and hope it never happens to me...bush

Did you say Scouts? The be prepared scouts? Just kidding, I'm anal retentive so I gear list every time. I have learned my memory is not what it used to be and neither is my back. Can't chance it and hope it never happens to me...bush

That was the worst part - I'm normally super prepared. Even used a checklist this time, too. Just mixed up the bags and didn't slow down enough to check.

Originally Posted by Klaussinator

Good lesson there for all of us.
Wow, that's an absolutely beautiful lake! Didn't know we had alpine lakes in this country . . . Stunning!
-Klauss

I sure learned a lesson I'll not soon forget.

There are a TON of alpine lakes here in Colorado. So beautiful and usually (although not in this case) pretty good fishing, too. This particular one was at about 11,000 feet.